The Escaping Elf Slave

The next morning.

"Who goes there? Stop!"

Thick fog shrouded the camp before dawn. Reilo was awakened in his tent by a roaring shout.

He hurriedly crawled out of the tent and saw the middle-aged knight captain holding up his longsword, faintly confronting a tall, slender figure in the fog.

The others also crawled out of their tents and gathered together.

Using the lingering firelight, they moved a little closer. Once they saw the figure clearly, they all cried out in astonishment, "An Elf?"

Tall and graceful, with a curvaceous figure and pointed ears—she was indeed a forest Elf, apparently still a young Elf girl.

Elves lived in Thorn Forest beyond the human realms. Like Dwarves, they often appeared in large human cities and were a foreign race friendly to humans. Even ordinary people who had never seen them had heard of them.

In even more remote regions of the continent, far from humanity, there were many other nonhuman civilizations, and countless races humans had never even heard of.

The Church's Crusaders had launched many expeditions into a terrifying land of foreign races known as Night's Veil Land, seeking to conquer a heretical civilization called the Blood-Derived and destroy the evil Heretical Temple there.

The middle-aged knight captain lowered his sword and explained to the others, "The fog is thick. That Elf came running over in a hurry just now, and I thought she was some kind of wild beast."

Pant, pant.

Amid the Elf girl's ragged breathing, Reilo peered through the hazy fog and studied her carefully.

Large patches of her fair skin were exposed, with only leaves covering a few crucial places. Her tall, seductive, voluptuous figure was enough to make any woman jealous. It was an early spring morning, and the Elf girl shivered in the cold, breathing wearily.

The Elf girl kept glancing back, as though terrified of something behind her. Like a helpless little lamb, she inspired pity.

This was the first time Reilo had ever seen a member of the opposite sex so exposed before him. His cheeks immediately flushed red, and he did not dare look again.

The knight captain called out to the Elf girl, "We are travelers headed for Saint Grand Fort. Your running and panting just now made me mistake you for a beast. You may pass."

The Elf girl seemed unable to understand human language. She merely stood where she was, panting without responding.

Apparently afraid of the human knights before her, the Elf girl did not dare move forward. Her anxious, uncertain face filled with pleading tears.

"What's wrong with her?"

Orn asked the knight captain.

The knight captain frowned. "An Elf who does not understand human language, dressed so revealingly in human territory... It looks like she is an Elf slave on the run. Although the human Grand Duchies and the various Elf tribes signed treaties long ago forbidding the capture of Elf slaves, some corrupt nobles still secretly keep Elf slave girls because of their extraordinary beauty. Many dark mercenaries risk everything for profit. Those Half-Elves despised by both humans and Elves generally come about this way."

As the knight captain spoke, several barks came from the foggy forest in the distance.

"She's up ahead! Don't let her get away!"

Hearing the footsteps pursuing her from behind, the Elf girl became even more terrified. Yet she feared the several tall, burly human knights before her and did not dare keep moving forward. She only stood there sobbing soundlessly, looking at them with pleading eyes.

Reilo secretly watched the others' reactions.

The two young knights unconsciously swallowed. At first, they showed the amazement of seeing an Elf for the first time, their eyes wandering over the Elf girl's graceful body as they instinctively coveted her beauty. Then, seeming to realize their impropriety, they hurriedly turned their faces away to conceal their shame.

The middle-aged knight captain remained calm and thoughtful, his eyes deep and utterly composed.

The female knight showed immense sympathy. After glancing at the silent middle-aged knight captain, she looked back at Orn.

"Damn fallen vermin!"

Orn's voice seemed to squeeze through clenched teeth. His furious, hateful expression made it seem as though he felt ashamed that such a thing could happen before him. He declared to the knight captain, "We must protect this Elf, uphold the reputation of the Grand Duchy, and ensure she returns safely to her homeland!"

"Yes!"

The knight captain looked at Orn and nodded solemnly. He put his helmet back on, his grave eyes turning toward the Elf's rear. Ready for battle, he roared in a low voice, "Draw your swords!"

The female knight sighed in relief and hurriedly put on her metal helmet as well, leaving only a pair of cold eyes prepared for battle.

The two young knights took deep breaths, seemingly ashamed of the instinctive wicked thoughts they had just had. Their captain's low roar made their cheeks redden, but a fearless fighting spirit rose in their eyes, concealing their shame, nervousness, and other complicated emotions.

Awooo!

Along with the chaotic footsteps in the depths of the fog, several tall figures gradually appeared. Upon spotting the Elf girl standing in the mist ahead, rough, delighted voices rang out.

"Found her! She's right up ahead!"

Beside Orn, Reilo grew nervous. He did everything he could to appear normal and not reveal his shameful cowardice.

Orn, beside him, secretly swallowed.

Only after seeing that there were just four pursuers emerging from the fog did Orn relax. He touched the gemstone ring on his right hand. The gem flickered faintly with red light, and he steadied himself.

"Stop!"

The middle-aged knight captain stood at the front and shouted, "We are the honor knights of the Ridge Family! Why are you hunting this Elf?"

The knight captain's roar immediately made the four people in the fog tense up. They stopped several dozen meters away and stared over.

Once they saw that there were only six people on the other side, including two children, the four relaxed.

"Hmph. We are the Black Demon Wolf Mercenary Group. We accepted a mission from the Mercenary Hall to capture this Elf assassin, who committed murder in Saint Grand Fort, and take her back to face the sheriff's punishment. Anyone sheltering her is an accomplice and will be killed without mercy! If you don't want to die, get out of our way!"

The mercenary captain who spoke was a bald man in his thirties with an earring in his ear. He wore a black fur coat, stood a full one hundred ninety centimeters tall, and carried a gleaming battle axe on his shoulder. Simply standing there, he was like a wall, overwhelmingly imposing, like a beast ready to pounce at any moment.

The other three members of the mercenary team also looked like vicious men who had lived by the blade. One of them held a blood-red wolf-head banner.

One was a female archer in her twenties. Her bow was drawn into a full moon, and her right hand rested on an arrow aimed this way, as though she could loose the death-bringing shaft at any moment. Beside her stood a huge black wolf, half a person tall, with spiked metal ornaments around its neck. Its fangs were bared, and its blood-red eyes were savage.

"A Magical Beast?"

After seeing the black hound, Orn examined it carefully. Once he had confirmed it, he shook his head. "It probably has some Black Flame Wolf bloodline. Be careful, Uncle Basse."

"Got it!"

The middle-aged knight captain answered Orn quietly, then laughed at the Black Demon Wolf Mercenary Group. "Hahaha! Since you accepted the mission from the Mercenary Hall, show us the mission contract! Hmph, do you think we don't know what you are? A bunch of scum earning filthy gold coins. Get lost now, or we'll use your blood to defend the honor of the Ridge Family!"

The atmosphere was extremely tense. Battle could break out at any moment.

The Elf girl between the two opposing sides seemed to understand the middle-aged knight's goodwill. She suddenly ran toward them.

The female knight said softly, "Young master, don't you know Elvish?"

"I am a scholar who studies Natural Law. My main field is Mathematical Foundation, using it to deduce Natural Law. Elvish is studied by those scholars researching Evolution's Profound Meaning. How could I possibly know it?"

Orn said in frustration, "Never mind. We'll save her first. Once we reach Saint Grand Fort, we can post an escort mission at the Mercenary Hall. It won't cost much!"

On the other side.

The captain of the Black Demon Wolf Mercenary Group watched his prey, practically in his grasp, escape. A low growl immediately rose from his throat, like a monster awakening. Just as the overwhelmingly imposing mercenary captain was about to charge, the female archer behind him, who held the black hunting hound's leash, suddenly cried out, "A mage!"

The Black Demon Wolf Mercenary Group was startled.

Looking into the distance, they saw that behind the four knights, fire had actually ignited in the palm of that half-grown boy's hand. It was dazzling in the not-yet-bright sky as he watched them with shining eyes, seemingly ready to unleash unknown magic at any moment!

Though he clearly looked somewhat nervous, a noble mage was not someone a lowly mercenary group like this could casually provoke. Upon discovering Orn's identity as a mage, they became even more nervous than Orn!

The bloody experience of countless mercenaries had taught their successors that if a mercenary group wanted to survive and grow, it had to hire a mage as the brain of the team. A mercenary group without a mage must never clash with one that had a mage. If conflict was unavoidable, the enemy mage had to be the first target!

"Hey, Reilo, pretend too!"

Orn's trembling voice almost squeezed through his clenched teeth. He was extremely nervous.

Reilo hurriedly replied, "O-okay!"

Reilo casually picked up Orn's notebook and slowly flipped through it with a grave expression, as though he were about to unleash powerful magic at any moment. In truth, his palms were already sweaty, and his legs had gone a little weak.

Reilo had never truly experienced such a real, blade-to-blade confrontation.

"What do we do?"

Behind the Black Demon Wolf Mercenary Group captain, another scar-faced man holding a two-handed sword asked hesitantly.

In the eyes of mercenaries, mages held an extremely exalted status. High-ranking mercenary groups would inevitably offer exceptionally generous terms to hire a mage as a core team member. Aside from their mysterious magical powers, the most important thing was their vast knowledge and their understanding of nature's mysterious phenomena. In many dangerous moments, that could save an entire mercenary group!

"Retreat!"

After glaring viciously at the middle-aged knight captain and taking a deep look at the mage filled with unknowable mystery, the Black Demon Wolf Mercenary Group captain forcefully stopped himself just before erupting. Without hesitation, he led the other three away, disappearing into the fog.